Many retirement accounts such as accounts in 401(k) plans utilize actively managed mutual funds. 401(k) plans are those that are set up by a plan sponsor, such as an employer of a participant in the plan, and the participant can select from one or more investment options and have retirement funds automatically deposited from his or her paycheck into his or her selected investment option or options under the plan. Retirement funds may be contributed from an employee's paycheck, contributed by the employer, or both.
However, limiting retirement accounts to actively managed mutual funds can limit the potential gains the participants can make, because many actively managed mutual funds cost much more to manage than exchange traded funds, known as “ETFs” or index mutual funds, referred to herein as “IMFs”.
Investing in a single ETF or index mutual fund could be used to lower the costs and improve the return to investors, but such an investment option may not be appropriate for every investor, and may not maximize the potential returns available to an investor for a given level of risk.
If a new approach is employed, other problems may result. Transferring a large number of plan participants from one retirement plan structure to another can be difficult to implement, as the investment options under the old structure may not be the same as the investment options under the new structure. An attempt may be made to map investment options under an old structure to the closest of several investment options under the new structure, and then transfer plan participants investment options using the mapping, but there is no guarantee that plan participants have been appropriately assigned to investment options under the old structure, and the mapping may not be optimal for all investors who have elected any particular investment option.
Finally, the use of ETFs and other investments in retirement plans can raise the issue of how to handle fractional shares, because investments are typically purchased by dollar amount rather than by numbers of shares, resulting in the need to purchase fractional shares. When the plan participants' transactions don't equal a whole number of shares, a fractional share may be purchased or sold, but fractional shares may be expensive or impossible to trade.
What is needed is a system, method and product that has the potential to reduce costs of investing, that can identify an investment option for a new plan participant, and that can handle fractional shares in a cost effective manner.